A very proud wolf was strolling through the forest one sunny morning. "Hmph!" he puffed out his chest. "No one is stronger than me! I am the king of this forest!"

A sly fox, who was listening nearby, chuckled. "Oh, really, Mr. Wolf? Have you ever met a Man?"

"A Man?" scoffed the wolf. "What's a Man? I bet I'm stronger!"

"Well," said the fox, "Man is said to be the strongest creature of all. If you want, I can show you one."

The wolf, eager to prove his strength, agreed. "Yes! Take me to this Man!"

So, off they went. Soon, they saw an old man walking slowly with a stick. He looked tired and a bit wobbly.
"Is *that* a Man?" sneered the wolf. "He looks weak! I could knock him over with a puff!"
"No, no," said the fox. "That's not *the* Man you're looking for. He *used to be* strong like a Man, but he's very old now."

They walked a little further and came across a group of children playing near a schoolhouse. They were laughing and chasing a ball.
"Are *those* Man?" the wolf asked, even more doubtful. "They're tiny! I'm much bigger!"
"Not yet," the fox grinned. "But they *will grow up* to be Man. They are just starting out."

Finally, they crept to the edge of the forest and saw a hunter walking by. The hunter was tall and carried a long, shiny thing over his shoulder.
"Now, *that*," whispered the fox, "is a Man. Be careful!"
"Pah!" said the wolf, still not convinced. "He doesn't look so tough." He started to trot out from the trees.

The hunter saw the wolf. He quickly lifted his long, shiny thing – it was a rifle!
BANG!
A loud noise echoed through the trees, and something whizzed right past the wolf's ear!
"YIKES!" yelped the wolf. He had never heard such a noise or felt something so fast and dangerous. He tucked his tail between his legs and ran as fast as he could, deeper and deeper into the forest, not stopping until he was far away.

The fox found him later, hiding under a bush, still a little shaky.
"So, Mr. Wolf," the fox said with a twinkle in his eye, "still think you're the strongest?"
The wolf just shook his head, his ears drooping. "That Man... with his noisy stick... he is very powerful," he mumbled. "Perhaps Man *is* stronger."

And from that day on, the wolf was a little less proud and a lot more careful whenever he heard a human nearby. He learned that true strength isn't always about big teeth and loud growls.

1692 Views